STATEMENT 


ttlaration  of  iutos,  1 


A 


STATEMENT 


AND 


DECLARATION  OF  VIEWS. 


H.    ANSTICE    &    CO.,  STATIONERS, 
No.   2  5  Nassau-Street. 

1  8  57. 


N 

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Statement  and  Declaration. 


The  undersigned,  a  committee  appointed  at  a  meeting  of 
Episcopalians  in  the  City  of  New-York,  with  a  view  to  make 
more  fully  known  the  precise  nature  and  extent  of  the  object 
of  their  application  to  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  for  the 
repeal  or  amendment  of  the  Act  of  1814,  entitled  "An  Act 
to  alter  the  name  of  the  Corporation  of  Trinity  Church  in  New- 
York,  and  for  other  purposes,"  passed  January  25th,  1814, 
and  to  prevent  any  uncertainty,  misapprehension,  or  mis- 
statement of  that  object  in  any  quarter,  hereby  make  the  fol- 
lowing statement  and  declaration : 

By  a  royal  grant  in  1697,  an  Act  of  the  Colonial  Legisla- 
ture in  1704,  and  a  royal  grant  in  1705,  having  for  their  ob- 
ject the  establishment  and  support  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  throughout  the  city  of  New- York,  a  Corporation  was 
created  and  endowed  by  the  name  of  "  The  Rector  and  Inhab- 
itants of  our  said  City  of  New- York,  in  communion  of  our 
Protestant  Church  of  England,  as  now  established  by  our 
laws."  This  Corporation  expressly  embraced  "  all  the  inhabit- 
ants from  time  to  time  inhabiting,  and  to  inhabit,  in  our  said 
city  of  New- York,  and  in  communion  of  our  aforesaid  Prot- 
estant Church  of  England." 

To  this  Corporation,  by  its  corporate  name,  were  granted 
certain  important  powers,  rights,  privileges,  and  estates.  Among 
these  was  the  right  of  voting  at  the  elections  for  the  two 
Church  "Wardens  and  twenty  Vestrymen  of  the  said  Corpora- 
tion. 

The  Acts  of  the  Legislature  of  this  State,  of  1784  and 
1788,  while  they  rendered  the  provisions  of  the  aforesaid 
original  royal  grants,  and  Act  of  the  Colonial  Legislature,  con- 


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formable  to  the  new  state  of  things  produced  by  the  Revolu- 
tion, the  independence  of  the  States,  and  the  adoption  of  the 
State  Constitution  of  1777,  they  preserved  and  perpetuated 
to  the  said  Corporation,  by  the  new  corporate  name  of  "  The 
Rector  and  Inhabitants  of  the  City  of  New- York,  in  commu- 
nion of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  State  of  New- 
York,"  all  the  essential  powers,  privileges,  rights,  and  estates 
conferred  upon  it  in  and  by  the  said  original  royal  grants. 

These  two  Acts  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  of  1784 
and  1788,  have  ever  been  deemed  a  legal  and  just  declaration 
and  settlement  of  the  rights  of  Episcopalians  generally,  of  the 
city  of  New- York,  in  the  whole  subject  matter  to  which  these 
two  statutes  relate. 

But  in  1814  an  Act  was  placed  upon  the  Statute  Book  of 
the  State,  as  remarkable  certainly  in  the  manner  of  its  pas- 
sage as  it  is  deemed  to  be  unconstitutional  in  its  provisions 
and  unjust  in  its  object.  This  Act,  while,  by  a  proviso  added 
in  the  Senate  to  the  original  bill,  it  expressly  saves  the  rights 
of  all  persons  and  bodies  corporate  to  the  estate,  real  and  per- 
sonal, of  the  Corporation  in  question,  it  attempts  to  take  away 
from  the  great  body  of  the  corporators  the  right  of  being  cor- 
porators, and  of  voting  for  those  who  are  to  manage  and  apply 
the  estate,  and  to  limit  those  rights  exclusively  to  a  small 
number  of  the  corporators,  being  members  of  the  congregation 
of  Trinity  Church  and  her  chapels. 

This  we  view  as  an  attempt  to  divest  important  and  le- 
gally vested  rights. 

We  consider  the  right  of  voting  for  the  agents  who  are  to 
manage  and  apply  the  corporate  or  common  property,  to  be  an 
essential  incident  of  the  right  of  property  itself,  and  indispen- 
sably necessary  to  the  protection  of  such  right  of  property,  and 
to  give  it  full  effect.  The  mere  bald,  naked  right  of  property, 
without  the  right  of  electing  the  agents  who  are  to  manage 
and  apply  such  property,  is  practically  of  little  value. 

We,  therefore,  ask  the  Legislature  either  to  repeal  or  so  to 
amend  the  Act  of  1814,  as  to  restore  to  the  great  body  of 
Episcopalians  of  New- York  their  chartered  rights — rights 


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originally  granted  to  them  by  legal  and  valid  acts,  confirmed  by 
the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State,  but  of  which  they  have 
been  wrongfully  and  unjustly  deprived  by  the  said  Act  of  1814. 

In  this  application,  we  believe  we  present  a  case  clearly  of 
legislative  jurisdiction  and  cognizance.  We  seek  neither  a 
legislative  enactment  creating  new  rights,  nor  a  legislative  ad- 
judication upon  those  already  existing.  We  ask  merely  the 
repeal  or  amendment  of  an  Act  as  manifestly  unconstitutional 
as  it  is  unjust ;  that  the  acts  of  the  Legislature  may  thus  be 
rendered  consistent  with  each  other,  and  the  great  body  of  the 
Episcopalians  of  New- York  may  be  permitted,  without  the 
embarrassment  of  the  Act  of  1814,  to  stand  upon  their  rights 
as  originally  conferred,  and  as  they  were  defined  and  settled 
by  the  Acts  of  1784  and  1788,  and  especially  the  right  of 
of  voting  at  elections  for  Church  Wardens  and  Vestrymen  of 
the  Corporation  in  question,  who  are  the  Trustees  of  the 
common  property. 

The  Vestry  of  this  Corporation  acts  in  the  double  capacity 
of  vestry  of  a  church,  and  trustees  of  important  estates  com- 
mon to  all  the  Episcopalians  of  the  city  of  New- York.  With 
this  vestry,  in  the  exercise  of  its  functions  in  the  former 
capacity,  there  is  no  disposition  or  desire  to  interfere  ;  but  so 
far  as  they  act  as  trustees  of  the  common  property,  the  great 
body  of  Episcopalians  of  the  city,  as  beneficiaries  of  this 
Trust  property,  have  a  right  to  participate  in  the  election  of 
those  who  are  to  manage  and  apply  it.  They  were  constitu- 
ted corporators  under  the  original  Acts  of  Incorporation,  and 
beneficiaries  under  the  grants  of  the  estates.  As  such  they 
have  common  and  important  rights^  of  which  they  cannot 
justly  be  deprived. 

It  will  thus  be  perceived  that  the  present  application  to  the 
Legislature  does  not,  except  incidentally,  regard  the  property 
of  the  Corporation  in  question.  In  regard  to  that  property, 
the  great  error  in  the  minds  of  many  seems  to  be  in  consid- 
ering it  as  the  property  of  Trinity  Church.  Even  Trinity 
Church  herself  seems  to  participate  in  this  error,  and  to  prac- 
tice upon  it.    Whereas,  not  one  foot  of  those  large  estates 


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was  ever  granted  to  Trinity  Church.  Those  estates,  consist- 
ing originally  of  the  Duke's  or  King's  Farm,  and  the  Queen's 
Garden,  were  expressly  granted  to  the  Corporation  by  the  name 
of  "  The  Rector  and  Inhabitants  of  the  City  of  New- York,  in 
communion  of  the  Church  of  England,  as  by  law  established, 
and  their  successors."  This  Corporation  embraced  all  the  in- 
habitants of  New- York,  from  time  to  time  inhabiting  and  to 
inhabit,  in  communion  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 

They  were,  therefore,  all  equally  beneficiaries  under  these 
grants.  It  is  true,  Trinity  Church,  under  color  of  the  Act  of 
1814,  has  usurped  this  valuable  trust  property  common  to  all, 
and  has  come  to  view  and  treat  it  as  exclusively  her  own. 
This  is  the  great  wrong  of  which  the  Episcopalians  of  New- 
York  complain,  and  which  they  ask  to  have  redressed. 

The  title  to  this  property,  as  originally  granted  in  trust,  we 
believe  to  be  unimpeachable,  and  the  trust  valid. 

The  former  should  not  be  disturbed,  nor  the  latter  violated. 
Our  earnest  and  only  desire  is,  that  this  great  Trust  estate 
may  continue  to  be,  in  all  future  time,  as  we  believe  it  to 
have  been  originally  intended,  an  abundant  fountain  of 
blessing  to  the  whole  Church. 

"We  desire,  therefore,  only  its  most  judicious  management, 
and  faithful  application  to  the  great  object  for  which  it  was 
originally  granted,  and  to  which  it  was  solemnly  dedicated. 
That  object  we  believe  to  have  been  the  establishment  and 
maintenance  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  throughout 
the  whole  city  of  New- York.  While,  then,  there  yet  remain 
thousands  of  her  inhabitants  not  only  destitute  of  the  ser- 
vices of  the  Church,  but  without  any  seat  in  any  place  of 
public  religious  worship  whatever,  we  feel  that  this  great  Trust 
estate  has  failed  fully  to  accomplish  the  enlightened  purposes 
and  beneficent  intentions  of  its  donors. 

"What  we  desire,  therefore,  is,  not  that  the  ample  reve- 
nues of  this  great  fund  of  Christian  benevolence  shall  be 
either  hoarded,  or  consumed  exclusively  by  a  few  only  of  those 
for  whose  common  and  equal  benefit  they  were  originally  de- 
signed ;  nor  doled  out  in  stinted  and  reluctant  contributions  to 


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others  who  are  abundantly  able  to  take  care  of  themselves  ; 
but  that  they  may  be  impartially  extended,  to  sustain  the 
feeble  and  supply  the  destitute. 

Let  efficient  aid,  not  in  the  form  of  mortgages  or  pensions, 
but  of  liberal  and  absolute  grants,  be  immediately  afforded  to 
those  feeble  churches  which  have  been  recently  organized ; 
and  let  independent  and  free  houses  of  public  worship  be  es- 
tablished in  all  those  parts  of  the  city  which  are  now  desti- 
tute of  the  Church,  until  all  who  will  receive  them  shall  have 
the  benefit  of  her  regular  ministrations  and  her  services. 

New-York,  March  3,  1857. 

L.  Bradish, 
S.  Cambreleng, 
F.  S.  Winston, 
Stewart  Brown, 
Robert  B.  Minturn, 
John  L.  Wendell, 
J.  E.  Cooley, 
William  Jay, 
John  David  Wolfe. 


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